Paintball Products Retail Business Plan

Harquebus Paintball’s website will be the perfect online companion for the physical store, as well as its online “home.” The HPI website will be an easy-to-navigate, secure, sleek, hi-tech, professional looking website with lots of user friendly features. The HPI website will go through three phases:

1. Phase One: (short-term)
• Advertising: HarquebusPaintball.com will be “live” online approximately three weeks before grand opening. During HPI’s marketing phase, HPI’s Web address will be mentioned in the various radio and TV spots so people can visit the website and get more information on Harquebus Paintball.
• Info Center: HarquebusPaintball.com will be a primary host for news and updates on HPI for approximately three weeks before grand opening to two months after grand opening. Information will include such dates as to grand opening, certain milestones, and special events that may occur in the paintball community.
2. Phase Two: (short-term)
• Info Center: HarquebusPaintball.com will continue to host information and updates on HPI’s milestones and the paintball community’s special events.
• e-Store: HarquebusPaintball.com will evolve into an online store three months after grand opening, using the physical store’s inventory and hosting many features such as: online accounts; online purchasing and shipment; online purchasing and in-store pickup; product availability; etc. HPI’s online store will be targeted mainly for the Bombarde County area’s use as a time/place/satisfaction utility, but will fulfill out-of-state purchases, as the sales grow.
3. Phase Three: (long-term)
• e-Store Expansion: HarquebusPaintball.com will focus on online sales growth, targeting the entire nation. HPI will create a website department, with inventory strictly for online purchases, larger and more technical programs will be implemented into the website’s design, and online marketing/advertising will be carried out.

6.1 Website Marketing Strategy

Harquebus Paintball’s website marketing strategy will be synchronized with the three Web plan phases:

1. Phase 1: (short-term [target audience: Bombarde County kids and young adults])
• TV and Radio: HarquebusPaintball.com will be stressed for customers to visit during the launch campaign on various radio and TV stations during the “TV and radio” advertising phase of HPI’s marketing plan, approximately three weeks prior to grand opening. This will give interested potential customers a chance to find out more information on HPI that may be included online rather than in the TV and radio advertisements.
• Live Remote:  HarquebusPaintball.com will be announced periodically throughout the radio stations’ (undecided) live remote to attract more potential customers to the website.
2. Phase 2: (short-term [target audience: Bombarde County kids and young adults])
• Radio: The new HarquebusPaintball.com e-store will be advertised for approximately 2-3 weeks on various radio stations that attract kids and young adults.
• In-Store: Banners and signs will be strategically placed throughout the physical store sending out the message that HPI now has a full online store with many great user-friendly features.
• Contests: Customers can create an online account with HPI, and upon registration, they will automatically be entered for a chance to win a giveaway prize. This will allow HPI to to build an online customer database, and offer monthly e-news letters to the online members.
3. Phase 3: (long-term [target audience: The United States])
• Search Engines: HarquebusPaintball.com will be listed under every major search engine such as:  www.Google.com;  www.MSN.com;  www.Yahoo.com;  www.AskJeeves.com; etc.
• Online Malls: HarquebusPaintball.com will list products under major online product compilation sites and malls such as: www.PriceGrabber.com; www.MySimon.com; etc.
• Website Banners: HarquebusPaintball.com will create attractive banners with a link to the HPI website, and host the banners on high “paintball traffic” websites such as: www.Paintball.com; etc.

6.2 Development Requirements

HarquebusPaintball.com will require the following during the short-term phases:

1. Phase One:
• Web Domain   HarquebusPaintball.com
• Web Hosting provider  (Jumpline.com)
2. Phase Two:
• Web Domain   HarquebusPaintball.com
• Web Hosting provider  (Jumpline.com)
• Merchant Account (to hold online profits)
• VeriSign Services:
• SSL Certificate  (Secure Purchasing)
• Credit Card Processing  (Payment Methods)
• Buyer Protection  (Stolen Credit Card Protection)
• Anti-Fraud Service  (Fake/Unauthorized Credit Transactions)
• Macromedia Dreamweaver MX w/business license  (Site Layout Development)
• Adobe Photoshop CS w/business license  (Site Image Development)
• Shopping Cart Program  (Online “shopping cart” and Checkout Service)
• UPS Business Account  (Shipping)
• Packaging Materials  (Cartons; Boxes; Bubble Wrap; etc.)

Harquebus Paintball’s website will be designed by Padraich Petard. The website will be maintained by Kham Pholowyr and Padraich Petard daily. “Phase two” website features will include in-store pickup, user accounts, product availability, employee schedules, etc.